This was the campground. You can see our car and tent to the left.
This was the view from our tent...lovely, no?
We had purposely put the tent in this direction, knowing that the sun would rise on devil's tower.
If you are unaware, devil's tower is a 1200 foot tall wart in the Wyoming landscape.
It is believed to have been created by an inactive volcano, although nobody is really sure. The Native Americans believed it was created by a bear and some kids...so take your pick.
The sun really did illuminate the landscape to be this color. It was relaxing despite our late arrival the night before.
This little fellow hung out with us for a few minutes as we hiked the base of Devil's Tower.
Jeff, as usual, placed himself in and around rocks and small places.
He likes this too much.
I love the mini-creations that people make in national parks. This one was creative because it didn't feature a smiley face - the usual creation.
A photography demonstration of a property known as "depth of field."
The next 4 images are a set. Take note of the climber in each photo to get a feeling for how high she was.
There are a ton of ways up, many of the most popular ways have ropes that climbers may use. You can see some of the ropes here.
This is about the upper 3rd of the mountain.
Further out...notice the dot in the right of the picture...hawk.
She was almost at the top there...insane!
This is the forest located all around the base of Devil's Tower, the home of our squirrel friend.
The Wyoming countryside. It was at this location that we met a local Wyoming man who told us of his elk hunts. He also told us how beautiful the rest of our drive towards yellowstone would be...and was certainly correct.
Jeff being a lizard.
A fallen tree. Probably full of hungry beetles. Yuck.
Prairie dog love! Yes, these little guys were also right near the base of Devil's tower. I wish we had prairie dogs in the east...I like them.
The bikers followed us. Devil's tower is to the left of this picture (notice the rock formation building up), and the prairie dog town is to the right.
We weren't sure what was up here...but this was a horse track. It looked serious.
Gotta love those Wyoming Motels...the ones with A/C and Phones!
These are all over the area. Nature meets man. This picture could spark a nice political debate...but instead of concerning ourselves with that, move on to the next picture.
We decided to stop and take in the beauty of this lake amidst the mountains. It was beautiful, empty and relaxing. I did feel a tad creepy with all my camera equipment, however, because there were some naked little kids around.
They use sails in Wyoming. Saves on gas.
These dragonflies were just chillin' with me. I used to be afraid of them until I realized that they couldn't sting me. Then I thought their incredibly bright blueness was cool.
I got real close to the water and hung out there for a while. Long enough to get this picture to work. This may have been the technically most difficult picture I took the entire trip.
Jeff read a book and thought some more deep thoughts.
I thought manly thoughts as I took a picture of this truck.
As you come down out of the mountains towards the town of Ten Sleep, you take a winding road through this area. Its beauty is mindblowing.
Nearly the same shot taken with infrared light instead of visible.
I never understood the meaning of "open range" until this.
Yes, they're truly on the open range...they walk wherever they want. Hopefully you're not in a hurry. We weren't, because we decided to end in Cody, Wyoming (an hour outside of yellowstone). This let us rest and rejuvinate for the next two days worth of Yellowstone.
